Educational and Professional growth is just a Synaap away! Long Beach Resident Anita Herrera Launches New One-of-a-Kind, Non Profit called Synaap.org --an interactive social media tool to provide students with the information, access to mentorship and the encouragement needed to stay on track with their educational goals Long Beach, CA, February 19, 2015 - Upon arriving as a freshman on the campus of UCLA, a young Anita Herrera wondered: Do I really belong here? As the first in her family to attend a four-year university, Anita lacked a roadmap to help her negotiate the rigorous academic environment. And then, during her first quarter of study, her beloved grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack. “Just hours before he died he held my hand and said, ‘Love God and keep studying.’ Those words became my life’s motto,” Anita said. “During the times when I had very little financial or emotional support, I clung to those words.” Fast-forward a couple decades. Anita Herrera became Dr. Anita Herrera Hamilton a board certified pediatric neuropsychologist at Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles. Having attained her educational goals she wants to empower the world to do the same. Literally. Hamilton has launched a one-ofa-kind, website called Synaap.org, an interactive social media tool to provide students with the information, access to mentorship and the encouragement needed to stay on track with their educational goals. The idea behind Synaap.org is to establish a national and then global network of collaborative mentorship that is convenient, efficient and accessible to anyone in need of educational support. Hamilton believes that mentorship is a fluid, organic, collaboration of supportive team members, and each mentor brings a unique perspective and role. At Synaap.org, some will focus on academics, others will provide insight geared toward personal or professional development. The goal is to encourage others to optimize their hard work, knowledge and personal life experiences. “Because of Synaap.org, future leaders no longer have to feel isolated or alone in their educational journey,” Hamilton said. “They will be able to see, know and interact with others like them, or who started out like them, and through these interactions achieve their educational goals then turn around and do the same.” Hamilton completed her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at UCLA (1996) and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with an emphasis in neuropsychology at the Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena (2005). Following residency at Children’s Hospital Colorado and a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Hamilton received board certification in Clinical Neuropsychology from the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology. She is currently CHLA’s Director of Neuropsychology at the Children’s Orthopaedic Center.